Sunday, September 21, 2014

What Would You Do: Shopping Edition

On Saturday afternoon Greg, Greg's mom, and I took June and hit the stores to do a bit of shopping. They waited patiently for me at H&M as I tried on several items and then tried them all on again in the next biggest size. It was the first time I have been shopping post pregnancy, and nothing was fitting in my pre-pregnancy size. Because of this, it took me FOREVER to find the right sizes and items I wanted. Poor Greg and his mom waited and waited for me while June Bug did her usual thing of sleeping through everything.

By the time we got to the register, Greg's patience was wearing thin. I knew I shouldn't push my luck, but I wanted to check out a sweater that had caught my eye on the way to the register. "Pay for these items, I'll be right back," I said as I ran off to look at the sweater. It took me all of three seconds to realize I would never wear the sweater so I headed back to join Greg.

The man at the register was slowly taking off the security ink tags when I got back. "Hey, isn't there a number you can text to get 10% off your purchase?" I asked.

"Yes," said the clerk, pointing to a sign above me. "That's what you have to text." I could tell this man wasn't exactly digging on me. You know when people act like your very presence is a nuisance? That's how this clerk acted.

I texted the number and got the code just as he was putting the last of the clothes in the bag. "Here's my code." I said.

"Oh, it's too late," he replied quickly, avoiding my eyes. "You had to show that to me before I started the transaction." He handed a receipt for $159 over to Greg to sign. Apparently he had rung all the clothes up and swiped the credit card while I was looking at the sweater and THEN removed the ink tags and folded the shirts?

I was bugged- $16 we should have saved on that purchase! I glanced up at the sign again. I read the fine print. It said nothing about having to show the text before the transaction and I suspected this man was lying, anxious to get rid of a pesky customer. He was not about to go out of his way to help us out Greg was quickly signing the receipt, obviously wanting to get away from the situation. We had already been there far too long for his liking and he hates confrontation. He always gets a bit frustrated or embarrassed when I make a big deal out of things- he would always prefer to pay the extra money just to avoid the hassle and uncomfortable situation.

"Why did you tell me I could text that number for 10% off if you had already finished ringing me up and knew I wouldn't qualify for it?" I challenged. He shrugged his shoulders.

I briefly considered asking the man to return everything I had just bought and then ring it all back up again this time with the code, but I could hear Greg's tired "Come on, Bon" behind me. I knew I had already pushed him by making him wait so long for me. Out of respect for Greg more than anything, I let it go and walked out of the store with no discount.

I was grumpy on the car ride home. I felt taken advantage of. It was such a simple code to get, and the clerk could have made it happen so easily, but he just didn't want to. I thought of my friend, Amy, who never lets anyone rip her off anywhere. I needed her here to stand up for me.

"Bon, just let it go. It's not a big deal."
"It is a big deal. It's $16 and that clerk treated us like crap."
"If you wanted the discount you should have been there the whole time. But you weren't there when the transaction started."
"That's not even a rule! He just made that up because it would be more work for him and he didn't want to bother."
Greg sighed, "Even if that's true, is it really worth being mad over?"

It wasn't. But I couldn't help it. I stayed mad for half the afternoon anyway.

Now you tell me what you would do. Would you have made the clerk give you the discount or would you have given in as easily as I did? Would you have challenged him and his pretend "start of transaction" rule? Would you have been frustrated or are you the type that doesn't allow your entire Saturday to be ruined over $16? (If so, good for you! Maybe you could teach me some lessons?) Am I totally ridiculous for even being upset by that?!

66 comments:

Hey Bon, I would have been in the same husband boat as you and my husband would have gone nuts, quietly, if I made a scene, but...I would bring it all back w/o hubby, get myself the discount and speak to a manager about weenie clerk. Just saying...

I would have either had them return everything and start over just to make the person more irritated or asked for a manager. I won't usually make a fuss if it's a dollar or two, but I definitely would for $16. I've gotten a lot better at standing up for myself in those types of situations. Money is important dang it!

My mom is just like you in these kinds of situations and my dad is the same as Greg. I am in between. I definitely agree it was more just the principle of the matter, not necessarily the $16 I would've saved. The cashier shouldn't have let you text the code if he wasn't going to give you the discount- that's so rude. If it was really bugging me (it would depend on the day and my mood), I would probably take the purchase to customer service and tell them what just happened just so they could be aware, if anything. If I was feeling extremely annoyed (it takes a lot to annoy me, though), I would even tweet about it to the people at H&M.

I would have made him start over so I could get my $16! You can still call corporate and complain and probably get your $16 anyway. His job is to serve you as the customer and if he can't do that with a pleasant attitude, he needs to find a new job. No customer should leave a store feeling like they were an annoyance.

You should absolutely go back in and ask to speak to a manager and explain the situation. They can still credit the $16 back to your credit or debit card. $16 is a lot and I wouldn't have left the register until it had been credited back to me!

I would have totally made him give me the discount! A few weeks ago I went to Joann and Old Navy and at BOTH places the clerk made a mistake when ringing me up - and I had spoken up BOTH times, but they still made the mistake. A second transaction and a very frustrated me happened at both places. Stick up for yourself next time! Or go back with the code, ask for a manager, and have them return it and re-ring you up. ;) good luck!

I normally am like Greg, where it's not worth the hassle, but in that situation I would have asked him to return everything and give me the discount. It would have bothered me all afternoon too! In fact, that happened to me one time not too long ago. I spent almost $200 at Ulta only to come home and find a 20% off coupon in my mailbox. I drove the half hour back to the store to get my $40 off and they happily did it for me. If I hadn't it would probably bother me to this day! haha

Ooo girl I hate confrontation but I hate rude unhelpful ppl even more. He could have easily said yes thats the number but I've already rung you up. Maybe he was havin rough day but he sounds quite unpleasant. I've worked retail and know it sucks but com'on man, at least be nice.

Usually they only need the receipts with the bar-code at the bottom and your discount code. It's a price-adjustment, not a return or refund. If they hassle you, just politely ask to speak to the manager :)

For $16 I would have said, "Hold up, I get my discount or you're losing this sale." Go back in with your receipt and your bag of clothes, tell them you'd like the price adjustment or you're prepared to return all the items. Sales on a Monday morning should be low enough they'll do it. I always like to add, "thank you for being helpful. The person I spoke with yesterday was less than helpful."

I worked at Macy's in shoe department all through college and we ran into this situation soooo often with customers and coupons at the end of a transaction or even the next day they may have found some sort of discount. It is so easy to add on coupons and discounts. Even going back in, as long as you take your receipt and card you used to buy the clothes, it should be extremely easy for them to fix it. There is normally just a quick barcode scan or a button to push. The dude at H&M was a royal jerk. You definitely deserve to get that money back. And he deserves to have a nice little chat with his manager about his customer service skills.

I probably would've done exactly what you did, but then I would have called the store to complain about the bad service. I can totally relate on letting it steep all day and ruin an afternoon, I let things do that all to often.

ALSO just for future reference, I think they have a teachers discount at H&M! Not sure how you prove your teacherdom, but it's worth a shot!

My husband would have been the same way, but I'm the type that would have gone to another clerk and asked them to help me out! You were spending money at their store and that should mean something to the workers!

Not ridiculous at all! Customer service is not as valued as it used to be. I would be just as mad as you, but I would have stayed and duked it out. Then again, you have a Greg and I have a Layne who would be in the trenches fighting the "great injustice" with me. :) You did the right thing to walk away if it makes the people in your life who really matter happier.

Not sure if it helps, but I had a similar thing happen at H&M and I was able to take my receipt back and get the discount taken off no problem. I did ask to speak with the manager (just in case there was an issue). Good luck Bon!

Ugh, that totally stinks. At this point since the transaction is done, I would probably leave it as it is since ultimately it's 16 dollars. However, I would be irritated because every penny counts and you could have saved that!

Reading this, I get the feeling while you are irritated about missing the discount the bigger issue was the sales clerk and his attitude. He could have handled that situation so much better and at a minimum given you a heads up that the transaction had been completed when you asked about the discount. However, at the end of the day he is being paid to serve you! He could have canceled and redone the transaction. Even more, if he was a good employee, he would have mentioned the discount before he even started ringing you up. I think at this point you could call the store and report the incident to the manager. However, I would do this sooner than later bc the longer you wait, they may not take you as seriously.

I had a similar experience at Old Navy a little while ago, except when I brought up the coupon code and he said it was too late to apply it, he offered to do a return on all my clothes and redo the whole transaction just so I could get the discount. So nice of him, especially since it was a pretty busy day! I would have been so ticked if he had treated me the way the H&M guy treated you, but knowing myself I would probably have done what you did (and my husband would be trying to get me to walk away too... ha!).

First of all - yay you got Disqus!! And second - I'd be pissed too. I understand why you left in the moment because having a grumpy husband in tow is never fun. If you have enough time though, on principle I'd go back, return everything like you said, re-buy it with the discount code, and make a point of talking to the manager too. $16 isn't enough to stay mad over but in my opinion it is enough to pursue things, especially because of the way the clerk treated you.

I'd be upset too! I would have made him void the transaction and it all over again! Ir returned it all. $16 is a big discount to just walk away from. I'd probably also ask for a manager. That clerk was way out of line!

Given that Greg had reached his patience limit, I would not have pressed the issue right then, but would have taken him, MIL and baby out of the store, asked them to take a stroll, then gone back in and dealt with the clerk again. Definitely would have gotten the discount.

That would seriously annoy me! I'm not sure how I would react to that.. I've been in similar situations and let it go sometimes and stood up for myself other times. One time it happened at a grocery store and I knew an item was on sale with my store card and the clerk insisted it wasn’t. I let it go because people were behind me in the checkout line and I was too embarrassed to say anything else but they deff overcharged me. But it did ruin my day for a while. I was so annoyed that I had to pay extra for something that was onsale.

Bad customer service irks me every time! Depending on how mad the clerk made me I probably would have asked to return everything and not even bother giving them my business...then I would probably find myself at a different H&M with the same items, only this time with the code. It doesn't make sense, but I've done it before.

If I was by myself, I so would have told him to return everything and re-ring it, just to be a nuisance since he was so rude; however, if I was shopping with Jacob, he would have acted much like your husband, and we would have left the store with no discount. But then again, I'm the person who whined about having to pay $2 to have a new Dave & Buster's card activated after leaving mine at home...

Ugh, such a dumb situation. I feel like having worked in retail, I'm even more upset about how he treated you. I'm like your husband; I hate confrontation. So I probably wouldn't have said anything and been mad about it the whole day, ha. But I think it definitely would have been okay to say something. His behavior was not okay.

I've worked in retail since I was 17. 99.9% of the time, discounts are applied at the end of the transaction. (or if there's a special promo like B1G1 50% off, it'll ring up by itself in the system). This clerk was most definitely in the wrong and didn't want to be bothered. If you're still in the allotted time frame for a price adjustment, I would take it back, ask to speak to a manager, explain the situation, and get what you deserve. Managers can do more than an associate and it's always in their best interest to appease the customers because no matter how good a company's marketing campaign is, word of mouth is much stronger. Hope that helps! Katie

You are totally right- the pissy attitude and nonwillingness to help from the clerk was really the heart of a matter. I'm a customer and you should be trying to help me and please me- don't make up some lie about when the discount has to be applied.

Thanks so much for this insight! I certainly wouldn't think that it would be that uncommon of a problem. I did go back the next day, and it was a pretty easy fix. The lady was so nice too, rang it right up and gave me my money back.

I also agree with this even though it's probably been long resolved since I'm totally behind on reading.

And just for the record, I used to be more of a pushover, but after working in retail and working in a job where customer service is king, I no longer just accept subpar service. I'm spending my hard-earned money and I expect to get service that respects that fact.

I would have been ticked. Customer Service is exactly that, a service. Employees should go out of their way to make the customer happy. We all know he easily could have canceled the transaction and started a new one if that really is the "rule." In situations like this, I would call the store and complain to a manager. Not only does that not let this employees bad behavior off the hook, but they might even offer you a discount for the future.

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